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Avalon
Avalon (a.k.a Leo Prime) was one of the original 12 extrasolar colonies of Earth and the capital world of the Leo Sector. Geography and Climate Avalon was the third planet of a G-type star. It had three moons. Its year was slightly longer than a solar year. There were two large continental landmasses (Britannia and Albion) and a number of large islands on the planet's surface. The one global ocean was called simply the Ocean-Sea. The waters of its seas were a dark green color, and its skies tended toward green at the horizon fading to amber at the Zenith. Avalon had a mild climate and much of its surface was mist-covered except in the planet's dry season. History and Culture Early Colonial History Avalon was colonized by a group of humans who opposed the political and social reorganization of human society that began under the SAI's as they grew increasingly powerful in the 23rd Solar Century. These humans sought to re-establish an older, more traditional social order; one with a strong, hereditary noble class; but that still respected the social and economic rights of citizens who were not a part of that hereditary aristocracy. The social model worked reasonably well, and coupled with the planet's natural beauty, mild climate, and abundant tracts of open land, attracted a large number of colonists. It quickly became the most populous and economically successful colony in the Leo Sector. In the 26th Century, Hera – a colony in the Leo Sector - was drawn into conflict with Terra Nova over a newly discovered Terra-Class world designated ‘Clarion,’ which both worlds sought to claim. Hera petitioned the Galactic Federation to recognize its claim while Terra Nova ignored the Federation and began setting up settlements on the planet’s surface, protected by a military fortress. The Galactic Federation was split, but Terra Nova had strong allies with New Dawn, Han, and Proxima (who had their own colonial claims in mind) supporting Terra Nova and only Atlas and Avalon supporting Hera while the other colonies remained neutral. Hera was prepared to dispatch a fleet to Clarion, which would have led to Interstellar War, when the Galactic Federation Government on Earth granted Hera colonial control over the colony of Harbinger instead (much to the chagrin of that planet’s natives). Urged by its allies on Avalon and New Europa to accept the terms of the agreement, Hera acquiesced. 29th through 34th Solar Century In the 29th Solar Century, Avalon was one of the instigators of the rebellion against centralized control of human galactic civilization based on the planet Earth. In the Solar Year 2814, Avalon colony became the first to declare that its Government was no longer subject to the rule of the Galactic Federation, after the Federation decided to recognize the independence of two of its colony worlds; Guinevere and New Albion. Avalon sent warships to reassert control over the rebellious colonies. The inability of the Galactic Federation to manage the situation Along with Astra, Atlas, and Asha… Avalon was among the first worlds to assert independence. Avalon built a defensive fleet of ships independent of the Galactic Federation and used these ships to defend its territory when a Galactic Federation armada arrived from Earth to coerce the planet back into the fold. Avalon participated in the military counter-attack that caught the Galactic Federation fleet in Spacedock around Earth and achieved victory by attacking and crippling it. Afterwards, Earth was forced to accept a new power arrangement that delegated most authority to the major worlds in each sector. Avalon, New Europa, and Hera were the major colonies of the Leo Sector at that time and each maintained its own colonies and its own separate fleet of starships, but most often they cooperated in military operations during the First Crusade. The discipline and technological superiority of Avalonian forces allowed them to emerge victorious in most of the conflicts that erupted. The First Crusade, the rebellion of outer colonies against the inner, was acutely felt on Avalon, which had tried to maintain strict political and cultural control over the worlds in its sector. A rebellion on the desert planet Kalahari led to the dispatch of Avalonian Forces, but the rebellion proved difficult to quell, and on the homefront, the population wondered why blood and treasure were being spent on a colony that most regarded as an insignificant hellhole. Widespread public criticism of the war, some of it spurred by political rivalries within the Parliament, encouraged more rebellion and insurrection on other colonies in the Leo Sector. By the time the wars began to die down, Avalon was stretched military and had suffered fractures in its social cohesiveness. Rising sentiment against the Noble Houses of Avalon (the ruling families) among the lower classes threatened the social order. In the 30th Century, when the Galactic Commonwealth was organized, there was an immense rivalry between Avalon, Nova Europa, and Hera colonies, as each vied for the title of Sector capital. Eventually, it was decided that Sector Parliament would convene on Avalon (the Political Capital) and the bureaucracy would be headquartered on New Europa (the Administrative Capital). Hera was guaranteed enough seats in Parliament to ensure that any voting majority would require their participation, and guaranteed that at least a third of the bureaucratic ministers would be Heran. Under the Articles of the Commonwealth for the Leo Sector, the presidency of the Sector Parliament would rotate between Avalon, New Europa, and Hera. The Noble Houses kept their estates, but their political power was diminished in the new arrangement. Needless to say, this arrangement was not popular among the other worlds of the Leo Sector, who … although represented in the Second House of Leo … had little power or influence. The Leo Sector Government attempted to compensate by providing the minor colonies with extensive support services as their worlds developed, and a promise to increase their authority once their populations reached a certain size. Results were mixed at best, and the resources of the Leonine Fleet were severely taxed keeping order in the Sector. Avalon was an especial target of the Terran Imperium during the Second Crusade; the Terran Dictator X. Caliber Prime having a particular animus against that world and its people; its noble houses in particular. The major cities of Avalon were subject to repeated orbital bombardment. The planet’s aerospace fighters were developed as potent defense, but it was reinforcements from Atlas and Astra that finally pushed back the Imperium’s Assault and prevented a planetary invasion. (Hera and New Europa fell under Imperial Rule during the war, and were ruled by puppet governments of the Terran Imperium.) Avalon rebuilt after the war but found its Galactic influence diminished. Its fleet was reduced, and subsequent planetary governments were more interested in welfare programs for its citizens than galactic responsibilities. The Parliament of Leo was reorganized, giving much more influence to formerly minor worlds. Culturally, Avalon’s influence remained strong, for a time, and its music and broadcast entertainment achieved a large inter-stellar following. 35th through 41st Solar Century At the time of the Third Crusade, Avalon committed only token forces to the fight against the Red Committee, not being personally threatened and having little in the way of forces to commit. In the Fourth Crusade, the Scorpion Empire quickly conquered Hera, New Europa, and other worlds in the Leo Sector while encountering very little resistance. Avalon pleaded for help from its historical allies; Atlas, Asha, and Astra. They first organized to defend Avalon’s colony of Bellerophon from Scorpion invasion, but it soon became clear that they could not match the size and firepower of the Scorpion Fleet and their defense was doomed to failure. They instead evacuated as many as they could from the planet and retreated to Avalon. Fighting from borrowed ships with weapons provided by other worlds, Avalon was able to keep its homeworld from falling under control of the Scorpion Empire, but with almost all the Leo Sector under Scorpion domination, their position was tenuous. Before the Scorpion Empire could launch an attack, though, their forces came under attack by fleets from the outer sectors of the Galactic Commonwealth. Slowly, inexorably, the tide turned against the Scorpion Empire, until it finally was defeated at the end of the 32nd Century. In the 33rd Century, the Cult of the Strange became a strong social force on Avalon. What was left of the Noble Houses eagerly adopted trappings of the Strange as a way of reasserting their diminished cultural relevance. Although roundly mocked at first, within a generation, the cult had so infiltrated Avalonian society that Avalon was officially a Strange World. A planet that had once prided itself on its unique architecture and the preservation of Old Terran customs razed its cities and replaced its historic buildings with the drab cubes and grid-work streets the Strange demanded. Its once-vibrant and eccentric citizenry reduced to shaved drones in gray coveralls marching in neat orderly rows as the Strange demanded. The last holdouts for individuality fled to Earth or distant colonies beyond the Inner Sectors. The Strange were eliminated from Avalon with the use of the Normal-42 Pathogen, coupled with an invasion force of giant robots from Alpha Colony. Afterwards, the planet was quarantined for 28 Solar Years, during which it was thoroughly decontaminated of any trace of The Strange or the Normal-42 pathogen (which was harmless to humans, but you can never be too careful.) At the beginning of the 34th Century, Avalon was open to colonization again. The world they built would have shocked the old Aristocracy (and did, due to genetically-enhanced longevity, many of them were still around). Instead of a uniform culture preserving staid human traditions, the return of ex-patriot Avalonians and their descendents produced a multi-cultural mish-mash that did not always function smoothly. New Londinium became populated with wealthy Ashan bankers and energy traders, loud Gogovans, laid-back Vestans, pansexual Corinthians, and people from a hundred other worlds. Terra Novan mobsters set up shop in New Coventry, while rival Pacifican mobsters set up shop in New Windsor. In the late 35th Century, Avalon became one of the first worlds on which religion was formally outlawed and violently suppressed. The Knights of the Apostasy, one of the many anti-religious movements in the galaxy at that time, came to power on Avalon. Its citizens were chosen to learn and spread the philosophy of anti-theological reason with which they hoped to drive out the old religion from humanity and establish a perfect secular, atheistic empire that spanned the galaxy. Avalonian zealots trained to argue for and advance this philosophy were sent to other worlds. They were known as ‘The Flaming Tongues.’ Over a third of the Great Leonine Fleet fled the sector during the takeover by anti-religious forces, along with millions of refugees from Avalon and other worlds in the Leo Sector. They regrouped at the planet of St. Helena in the Corona Borealis Sector; where several Avalonian refugees had fled during the Normal-42 event. St. Helena was over 16,000 light years from Avalon. These fugitive ships became the Fleet of St. Helena, and formed the core of the Christian Fleet that arose later. In the 38th Century, a powerful human calling himself Lord Saxon became absolute ruler of Avalon and pledged loyalty to a higher Dark Overlord, Liyad, who ruled over the Scorpio Sector. His bloody reign began with a decimation; the random killing of ten percent of Avalon’s population, as an example to other. Saxon had been a ruler over one of the Noble Houses prior to the invasion of The Strange. Genetics had made him practically immortal, and immortality had rendered him irretrievably insane. An alliance with Liyad had given him vast power. He ordered Avalon to be reordered into the traditional society he remembered from his youth. Much of the old architecture was recreated. Residents who could not demonstrate Avalonian ancestry were exiled or killed. Saxon’s strategy was to preserve Avalon as an island of peace and tranquility while conscripting the other worlds in the sector to the service of Lord Liyad. He kept his hold on the planet with the use of techno-genetically engineered dragons that burned and scorched any opposition, and sometimes random villages to keep the citizenry well-terrorized. He declared that if he ever died, his dragons would burn the planet. In a carefully coordinated pair of attacks, Lord Saxon was assassinated with a silver arrow fired from a longbow by a Christian Sniper who infiltrated the planet disguised as a candy salesman. Simultaneously, Overlord Liyad was killed by a bomb planted in his lair by another Christian agent. The Christian Fleet moved quickly to capitalize on the chaos caused by the decapitation of leadership. The dragons unleashed upon his death took out vengeance in many parts of the planet, but the Resistance had been prepared with weapons to fight them, supported by trans-atmospheric fighters launched from the Star Carriers of the Christian Fleet. Many officers and ships in the Combined Fleets of the two Dark Lords defected or surrendered in the Aftermath of the planets’ liberation, but some units battled for years afterwards. The Christian Fleet, of course, allied with the Commonwealth Fleet to defeat the Overlords and rid humanity of them once and for all. The Death’s Head Virus was released after the war to limit human life spans and prevent the accumulation of power and madness that had resulted in the deaths of a third of humanity. 42nd through 52nd Solar Century In the Millennium of Peace that followed, Avalon became a very pastoral place. A new Government was instituted that reverted to the world’s colonial origins; Avalon was once again governed by a Nobility. New Londinium became a minor center of trade and Finance within the Leo Sector, and there was industrial production in the planet’s urban centers, but most of the planet’s residents chose to live in small towns and villages. The Great Fleet of Leo was reconstituted in the 42nd Century. One mission of the new fleet was gathering up all the terrible weapons created during the Nine Crusades and destroying them. According to legend, a secret unit within the fleet, chartered by the Avalonian Government, acquired many of these terrible weapons and moved them to a secret arsenal world codenamed: Lockbox. The Starlock nearest Avalon was christened Chamberlain. Avalon’s population was wiped out in the Tarmigan Assault of the 53rd Solar Century. Cities Avalon eschewed the more modern architecture of other early colonies and required that dwellings and commercial and Government buildings be constructed of stone, timber, brick, and other old-style building materials and that they emulate the architectural norms of 19th and early 20th Solar Century cities of Earth. Buildings in excess of ten stories were not allowed for much of the planet’s history, and its urban spaces were required to incorporate large amounts of parkland. *Londinium – Capital. (Later New Londinium after its reconstruction under Lord Saxon). *New Coventry *New Regina *New Windsor Category:Worlds